I’m hoping to get some skiing in tomorrow. The snow should be great and I missed out on last weekend so I’m a bit anxious to get up there. I need to get battery changed in my car first though. I’m supposed to meet my brother in about fifteen minutes for a jump.
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1. What is your favorite type of literature to read (magazine, newspaper, novels, nonfiction, poetry, etc.)?
I enjoy fictional novels and short stories the most.

2. What is your favorite novel?
I normally answer this question with “Ishmael” by Daniel Quinn but also enjoy Orwell, Bukowski, Atwood, Irving, S. Thompson, and many others.

3. Do you have a favorite poem? (Share it!)
I’m not all that familiar with poetry but I enjoy Bukowski, Silverstein, Pound, and of cousre the beautiful but bitter Parker. Right now my current favorite is a short poem titled “Sanctuary” by Dorothy Parker.

4. What is one thing you’ve always wanted to read, or wish you had more time to read?
The one thing that I have always thought about reading but know I will never get around to is the Holy Bible (King James Version).

5. What are you currently reading?
“Island” by Aldous Huxley

Last night I met a group of friends at The Rio to celebrate a friend finishing the bar exam. Soon after that we went to Nallen’s Irish Pub and had a couple of beers. I ended up getting home relatively early. And my stomach full of alcohol was giving strong urges to call Sabrina. I didn’t want these urges. And I didn’t want to make that call. Mostly cause I was afraid of what was going to be said. More rejection? More anger? More hope? And if so, is the hope unmerited? So I left my apartment, walked around the block and went and got another beer. When I got home I made the call.

Hi you’ve reached Sabrina, please leave a message.

Hey, it’s me. I just wanted to hear your voice. Call me back when you get this if you feel like it. Talk to you later. Bye.
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On Saturday after having breakfast over at my brothers and taking cat naps all afternoon I went to the 10th annual chili cook-off. Time for crock-pots, beano ©, homebrew, caber-toss and tandem saw competitions, campfires, friends and plenty of partying. The chili cook-off is one of my favorite annual parties. This tradition started with about 20 friends back college and has grown to tremendous proportions since. I have attended nearly all the chili cook-offs since the first annual, missing only maybe two or three.

Like the past 3 years, the monumental event was again held at the Kittlekinnick Cabin. This year there were over 75 attendees and 20 chilies (plus 2 vegetarian entries). Local bluegrass band “Forty Gallon Still” also played making this years chili cook-off one of the best yet. I didn’t meet as many new people this time but got to catch up with quite a few old acquaintances that I haven’t seen since the last chili cook-off. It was a great time. Thanks to BJ for the great hospitality. And oh yeah, happy birthday.
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After work on Friday I went over to my brothers place. From their, a group of us went out to Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom to see Fishbone. I haven’t seen Fishbone play since my college days when they came in town for Thanksgiving. It’s been maybe 5 or 6 years since I’ve seen them last. Fishbone is by no means my favorite group but their shows are traditionally a good time, and I’m usually always down for a good time. It was the same high-energy show I remembered. We all had a blast.

But I hate those fucking moshers. Admittedly, I haven’t been to a show that had a moshpit since the early 90’s. I thought that music lovers everywhere had wizened up and realized that pushing each other around in a circle is an incredibly dumb thing to do. Apparently I was mistaken. During most of the songs the crowd was paying attention to the show, dancing, respecting each other’s space, smiling at each other and generally enjoying each other’s company. In fact, the crowd at this show was really friendly and I met a handful of really interesting people. But, during a few of the harder and faster songs the knuckleheads would start their nudging, elbowing and running in circles. Jackasses. I’m getting old.
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Last night I went to Tommy’s Thai for dinner with my pops. Tommy’s never fails to satisfy. After dinner I got a call from Sabrina. She was a little drunk and wanted to see me. It was kinda unnerving but not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. In fact it was actually really nice. I was able to stifle any anger or resentment without being ran over. I just pushed it away and concentrated on exactly what she was saying and kept in close tune with my feelings. It was nice to see her again. After she left I went and grabbed a few beers at the Red Room and chatted up strangers in order to work off any nervous energy pent up from Sabrinas little visit.

1. What is your most prized material possession?
That’s a hard one. Maybe my shoebox full of photographs. The memories contained within are irreplaceable. I also have a little black box that contains all sorts of little treasured items and reminders of past events.

2. What item, that you currently own, have you had the longest?
I own a lot of my old baby stuff like super soft hairbrushes, pacifiers, baby teeth, etc. but none of it is currently in my possession. The oldest things I have at home are some of my old t-shirts from junior high.

3. Are you a packrat?
Only with certain things: clothes, magazines, bank statements, shoes and some other stuff. But I’m getting better at trashing things I never use.

4. Do you prefer a spic-and-span clean house? Or is some clutter necessary to avoid the appearance of a museum?
I like a clean home that looks lived in.

5. Do the rooms in your house have a theme? Or is it a mixture of knick-knacks here and there?
Yeah, the theme in the kitchen is cooking, eating and food. The theme in the bathroom is hygiene, water and mirrors. The theme in the bedroom is sleeping, sex and sleeping.

A couple of minutes ago I had my first communication via email with Sabrina in a long while. It was cold, distant, unneccessary and mostly lacked real substance. But still, for some reason, it increased the speed of my heart and turned my stomach a little bit. I’m so tired right now. I got little sleep again last night. Time is going so slow this afternoon. I’m going out to dinner with pops again tonight. I’ve been spending alot more time with family lately and it’s been really nice. My Mom, Dad and Brother have all been so supportive. I really need them right now too. My brother is inviting me out with him all the time. My mom asks me how I’m doing all the time. My dad calls me every couple of days just to see how things are going for me. A special thanks to my incredible family, I love you.

Saturday night, after nursing my hangover all afternoon, I went to my old roommate’s engagement party. It was pretty fun, but nothing too exciting. The usual crowd was there. I got to see the Rod family’s new house, it was really cute and I’m sure I’ll be spending plenty of time in their backyard this summer. Congratulations to the newly engaged couple, your very good together. I wish the both of you a lifetime of happiness together, you both deserve it. After a couple of hours of catching up with friends and giving my congrats, I went to go see Rainer Maria and Mates Of State at the Bluebird Theatre. I really like Rainer Maria and I own all their albums, but I went to the show to see Mates Of State. The show was great. I just love Kori Gardner and Jason Hammels songs, lyrics and harmonies (I own all their albums too, and a couple of 7″). But it is best to see them live. It is just the two of them on stage. Knowing they are married and loving every minute of it. They constantly look at each other, sing to each other, and croon each other throughout the entire show. It is no secret that many of their songs are written about their relationship and it really comes across on stage. At one point I saw Kori mouth the words “I Love You” across the stage to Jason. Seeing them play was truly an inspiration and it absolutely made my day. Plus I have a true celebrity crush on Kori now.

You can get an .mp3 of a Mates Of State Song here.
Or you can watch a video filmed at Emos in Austin Texas here.

So I survived this last weekend relatively unscathed. Actually, it was really a great weekend if you don’t include Valentines Day. As you can see from previous posts I wasn’t really looking forward to the 24 hours devoted to the celebration of love. I knew days before hand that I was simply going to wallow in self pity that evening. I have been doing “ok” since me and Sabrina have split (about two or three weeks now depending on which time, and who you ask) but I somehow subconsciously knew I was going to let myself go on Friday. And I did. The second I walked in the door I began to feel lonely. And I drank it in. I threw on some New Amsterdams and moped around the house looking for stuff to keep me busy. And then I broke, again. I just paced the kitchen and living room crying. Thoughts came racing through my head like I was on acid - uncontrollable, lightning quick, and often unassociated with anything. And then I wanted to break something, crush something, destroy something that belonged to her, or both of us. And it ended up being me. I went to the local bar. Chatted up nice with the bar tender so he’d keep feeding me drinks after I became visibly intoxicated and the proceeded to get wasted. And boy did I get fucked (up). Nothing more notable than my dramatic stumble home happened. I flopped down on my bed and cried myself to sleep. It was definitely a shitty Valentines Day. But I really feel like I got it out of my system, and really that was just what I needed. Hopefully I won’t have any other nights like that again.
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Happy overdone, unimaginative, consumer-oriented and entirely arbitrary, manipulative & shallow, interpretation of romance day.

Love, another infinitely important concept lost to a holiday wrapped around commercialism, consumerism, and (gasp!) cynicism.
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1. Explain why you started to journal/blog. I originally started in order to tech myself html. Blogging looked like a fun, personal, and entertaining way to do it.

2. Do people you interact with day to day or family members know about your journal/blog? Why or why not? No, nobody I know reads this. This blog is still fairly new and I haven’t yet decided if I want to tell anyone I know about it yet.

3. Do you have a theme for your journal/blog? Nope.

4. What direction would you like to have your journal/blog go in over the next year? If I can just stick with it throughout the year I’ll be satisfied.

5. Pimp five of your favorite journals/blogs.
if reality is what you perceive
brokentype
saintly stories
suck my kiss
this fish needs a bicycle

Every year The Onion prints a wonderful chidrens valentine day special. It includes adorable, cuddly little valentines to cut out give to your special little someone. Here is my favourite:

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I caught Sabrina on AMC last night. It seemed fitting for the times so I stayed up late and watched it all. I miss you Sabrina, wherever you are. This quote from the movie seemed especially appropriate-

Bonjour, mesdames et monsiuers. Yesterday we have learned the correct way how to boil water. Today we will learn the correct way how to crack an egg. Voila! An egg. Now, an egg is not a stone; it is not made of wood, it is a living thing. It has a heart. So when we crack it, we must not torment it. We must be merciful and execute it quickly, like with the guillotine.
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The weekend officially started off over at my Bro’s new apartment. My family, (both parents even), the Bros Girlfriends mom (one of the best Gumbo chefs I know), Trouts family, and various other friends got all got together to party. The function of the party was three-fold - as a housewarming for my bro and his girlfriend, as chance for everyone to get to meet each other and to eat some of the best gumbo west of the Mississippi. In addition to the great company and excellent food, the evening included babies, dancing, beer, wine, gin & juice, drawing, impromptu jam sessions on pots, pans, air guitars, real guitars, vocal chords and any other instrument that could be found or invented, and tons of laughter. After the party was we all went to the bar. This was probably not a good idea. Some of us were not allowed in the bar for various reasons - those of us that made it were kicked out in less than 15 minutes. Apparently the owner/manager of The Park doesn’t take kindly to grown men dawning some of their girlfriends accessories and acting like they are picking up on him. Getting kicked out was totally worth seeing that grumpy old mans reaction though.
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